Eashwar Subramanian Returns After A Short Hiatus With 'The Reclusive Mural'

Conventionally, 1 year and 4 months isn't a lot of time for a musician to not have released something. However, when seen in the discography of Eashwar Subramanian who previously put out over 500 compositions in a span of 5 years, it becomes a tantalising hiatus and the release breaking that hiatus becomes a somewhat monumental return – just like in the case of his latest EP 'The Reclusive Mural', Subramanian' latest since 2023's 'Ambient Silences'.

Perhaps because of that context or maybe inherently, the 4-track release seems to be bursting to express. In its opener 'Joy Of Being', Subramanian's characteristic piano tinkling expresses melancholic tranquillity, then the strings come heaving with a bittersweet optimism before the tabla breaks forth with joy. The emotions don't negate each other but wash and flow into each other like a rainbow of emotions.

Contrastingly, the follow-up 'Free Worlds' is relatively sparse and focuses on a sense of victory which for Subramanian might be "accepting oneself", a theme that he mentions while informing how the EP covers a range of emotions that reach all the way to the "pathos that surrounds the loss of a dear one."

Throughout his prolific discography, Subramanian's sound design has remained simplistic, often presenting conventional instrumentation through their cold and sterile digital emulations while his melodies can run into the oversentimentality of run-of-the-mill cinema soundtracks. It's a looming pitfall that becomes more noticeable in the second half of the EP. However, the Bangalore-based artist's compositional efficiency at always managing to find the placating qualities of ambient music while keeping his many compositions definably different from each other ultimately makes those shortcomings insignificant. 'The Reclusive Mural' successfully follows suit and marks a welcome return of the prolific composer-producer with yet again a distinguished release, especially in its opening passages.

Listen to the EP below and follow Eashwar Subramanian for more information.